Finding A Way
by Pillarre
Summary: Shadow is doomed to death until he stumbles upon his miracle. When trying to find his way back to Sonic and co., he finds more in this miracle than he thought possible. -FINISHED- Chapter is a little intense i guess, but not that bad...
1. Prologue

Alrighty, I finally can post this(got Microsoft word again^.^). Enjoy.  
  
Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Sonic crew, nor do I intend to, but I do own Kayli. (A/N: Beginning is a lil' bit of a cliché, but I just couldn't find a way around it!)  
  
Finding A Way: PROLOGUE  
  
Shadow was falling through space; soon he would enter the Earth's atmosphere. He had just saved the world and succeeded in giving his only promise to Maria. But, the best part was he may soon be with her once again. Soon.  
  
He smiled. It was so many years ago that he had enjoyed life, now he hoped to enjoy afterlife. Maria had told him about Heaven once. She said it was a place for good people after they died. She was there, he knew it. But was he going there too? He was. At least he thought so. Saving the world was a good thing, and he was only hours away from seeing Maria again.  
  
It was such a long way down, it may take a while before he burns. He had wished the moment was now. Now because there was only one thing he could do.  
  
He could think.  
  
He didn't want to think. It would only hurt him more, but he couldn't resist. So, losing a fight with himself, Shadow the Hedgehog thought. What did he think about? Sonic. Not just Sonic though, all the others. And he was right, it hurt.  
  
What if he could have befriended them? It would have been nice. They were going to accept him. Sonic seemed like a nice person, well, in the few moments they had gotten along. And he never found love, something he was hoping to do. Shadow started to regret this. This was practically suicide. He tumbled towards the Earth after the defeat of the Biolizard on purpose.  
  
And what about what Rouge said? Were his memories fake? What if he never knew Maria? All this seemed to go through his mind at once. He Purposely passed up a chance to join up with new friends, and he was regretting it. The only reason it pained him so much, was because there was nothing he could do about it. He was going to die no matter what. He forced open his eyes to see how close he was to the Earth. Still a couple hours left until he hit it. But he didn't want to hit it, he wanted to burn. He didn't know why, but that was his choice of death.  
  
Why wasn't he burning up? He didn't even feel any heat, except he could feel his shoes starting to warp. He was approaching the ocean fast now. /No. Not the water./ he thought. Like Sonic, he couldn't swim and it was one of the only things he feared. He didn't want to drown to death, but only a miracle could save him now.  
  
So, Shadow did the only thing he could do. He closed his eyes and waited for impact.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ To Be Continued.. 


	2. Chapter 1: I am going to die

A/N: Tryin' to make an original story. I am pretty sure my concept is original, but I dunno. I just wanted to get Chapter 1 up to make it more interesting right now and I will probly update weekly after this. BTW, for the first part of this Chapter, imagine yourself in Shadow's place while your read(its scary).  
  
Enjoy!  
  
Finding A Way: CHAPTER 1  
  
The gothic hedgehog was now almost at the ocean. He was falling as fast as he could skate. It was now that he started to go delusional. His head hurt and he felt like he was going to throw up. But he couldn't. Out of pure fear, he stared to quiver and tears were being forced out slightly.  
  
He kept his eyes closed, but a feeling in his chest told him he was close to the water. So close. He tried to imagine how much he was going to suffer when he drowned. Gasping for air until his body just went limp?  
  
Seemed like suffering. But, he knew there was nothing he could do but accept this cruel fate. He failed to burn up.A price to pay for being The Ultimate Lifeform.  
  
He gritted his teeth, the time was now, he knew it.  
  
And he was right.  
  
Shadow hit the water with a blood curdling smack, and down he went.  
  
At first he held his breath out of instinct. But he didn't want to open his eyes. His arms and legs seemed to have a mind of their own as they struggled in vain to get back to the surface. What he could remember of his life was flashing before his eyes. He clenched his fists and started to black out. So sure that this was it.  
  
Something was swimming in that water though. And it seemed that perfect timing was involved here. Seeing a black ball of fur drifting to the Ocean floor, the merhog swam as fast as her tail could take her and struggled to pull Shadow to the surface.  
  
She dropped him a few times, as she was in complete panic. But out of all the odds, she pulled the black hedgehog up to the surface just enough for his head to poke out of the water. In a spring of luck, there was a rock sticking out of the water near by. The merhog rushed Shadow over and flopped him on the rock.  
  
She didn't know what to do. He looked dead and she was scared to see if he was breathing. She gulped and put her head to the hedgehog's chest. There was a small murmur of a heartbeat.  
  
Not having any experience with medical attention, she did the only logical thing.she slammed her fist hard into his back.  
  
This caused him to cough up the water that was suffocating his lungs. But he still neither moved, nor gained consciousness. Not wanted to touch him anymore, she waited for him to be okay. This was a perfect time, however, to get a good look at this strange being.  
  
He was black and red, much the opposite of her white quills. He wasn't too banged up as far it seemed, except he was missing his left shoe and wrist guard. His other shoe being slightly charred. He was nice to look at though.  
  
It seemed like hours to her, waiting for Shadow to bring himself to consciousness. She wanted to see if he was alright just as much as she wanted to hear his story. Resting her head on the rock, she waited.  
  
She was nearly dozed off when she saw him move his arm.  
  
Shadow wondered where he was, was he in Heaven? If it was, the cloud he was on wasn't very comfortable. He felt wet and cold. His muscles ached, he wanted to curl up in a ball from the way he was feeling right now. Forcing open his eyes, he saw a blurred vision of miles and miles of water. He closed them, not wanting to see another drop of water as long as he lived.  
  
/This isn't Heaven./ He thought, /I am still alive/  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ To Be Continued.  
  
(A/N: Yes, I know there isn't any dialog in it yet, next chapter there will be a lot, though, so don't complain about that. As always R&R) 


	3. Chapter 2: Whats your problem?

Thanks for the reviews and advice so far! And with that; onward with chapter 2.  
  
Finding A Way: CHAPTER 2  
  
Shadow could sense a presence around him. Someone was watching him. He opened his eyes quickly, ready to get defensive. To his surprise, he found a girl-a hedgehog girl-sitting over him with a curious look on her face. This startled him.  
  
"Who are you?!" he demanded, then noticed she had a tail like a fish, ".what are you?!"  
  
She sighed and hopped off the rock back into the water, "Fine. Don't be happy to see your savior.but if you really want to know, my name is Kaylikala"  
  
"Kaylik-Kaylikaaa-", Shadow found this to be sort of a tongue-twister.  
  
"You can just call me Kayli if you like, and what's your name?"  
  
"I'm Shadow.and you didn't answer my other question; what are you?"  
  
"I am a 'Merhog'.half hedgehog" she flipped her tail out of the water, ".half mermaid."  
  
Shadow took a second to analyze this. What was this creature before him? She was white with quills that pointed out down to her waist and ruby tips on them. He also noticed her tail was lavender and she had deep blue eyes and a blue belly "shirt". All he could do was to give a half confused and disgusted look. Kayli saw this.  
  
"Go ahead, laugh, make jokes, or whatever your going to do; I'm used to it..." She looked away waiting for the worst.  
  
"No." He said bitterly, "You did nothing wrong, and I don't find it funny.just odd"  
  
She looked back at him, happy that he seemed kinda nice. She remembered his situation and she wanted to know everything; how he got here, where he came from, just about everything. So she started with her questions, not wanting to crowd him, though.  
  
"Where did you come from? It's weird how you are just out here, in the middle of the ocean."  
  
He gulped, remembering the incident that had happened to him just hours ago. He pointed worthlessly to the sky, "up there" was all he said. She looked up.  
  
"The sky?"  
  
"No.space"  
  
"How is that possible?" she was so confused, now.  
  
"Its possible, but I don't really want to talk about it" he looked down and changed the subject, "I have to get to shore, do you know how far Station Square is from here?"  
  
"Um...I would say it's about 100 miles.maybe more and it will take a few days to get there, you looking for someone? I can help you get there y'know"  
  
"No.I can go alone", Shadow's cold tone hit Kayli like a kick in the gut.  
  
"FINE. Your right." She tried to keep her cool, "You can do this by yourself." She began to swim away, hoping he would say something soon. Shadow looked around for some sign of being able to get on dry land. The first thing he noticed was~nothing. There was nothing there at all, except the rock he was on, miles of water on all sides, and that merhog swimming away from him. He wasn't going to be able to do this alone.  
  
"Hey! Wait!"  
  
Kayli's ears perked up as she turned around, "Yeeees?" She said nonchalantly.  
  
"I can't get back by myself", he said, "I need your help." It was weird to him. He never recalled asking for anyone's help. But he had no choice unless he wanted to sit there and waste away. "But I don't understand how you are going to help at all"  
  
Kayli swam back to him. "Hmmm.your right, I will have to find a way." She thought for a minute, "I will be right back." She dived under water out of Shadow's sight. About 15 minutes later she came back, this time holding a small bottle of green liquid in her hand. She gave it to Shadow.  
  
"Uh-huh, and what do you expect me to do with this?"  
  
"Drink it, what else?"  
  
"I can list a few reasons why I shouldn't drink something a complete stranger gives me", he said.  
  
"Do you want my help or not?!" she sighed.  
  
"Yes.but what will happen if I drink it?", he demanded.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ To Be Continued.  
  
Sorry, I had to go for the cliffhanger this time, see you soon with the next chapter! (PS: if you already know what's going to happen when Shadow drinks the liquid, don't spoil it on the review board, plz and thanx) 


	4. Chapter 3: Lose a little, Gain a little

Glad you liked it so far.next chapter.  
  
Finding A Way: CHAPTER 3  
  
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~  
  
"Why do I have to tell you what this potion does? Don't you trust me?" Kayli asked.  
  
"Actually, no."  
  
She shrugged, "Fine. If you drink it, you will be able to swim, then you can follow me back to Station Square."  
  
Shadow looked at her as if she was crazy, "You expect me to believe that this little bottle of green liquid is some kind of magical potion that will give me the ability to swim?" He even laughed at her unbelievable remark, but it was a laugh of pity.  
  
"Yes.", she said simply.  
  
"Sure. What is it really? Poison? Well then that will be better; at least I will die faster out here." He said, and he didn't seem to be joking. Kayli couldn't believe this, not only was it hard to earn his trust for whatever reason, but he wanted to die. She remembered being in that faze once, but she knew it would be better if she could change his mind about life.  
  
"You think I would poison you? Why would I do something like that, I barely know you." she said, annoyed.  
  
"A lot of people would like to see me dead, trust me.", he said.  
  
"Look. I am trying to help you here and you aren't being very grateful. I said it would make you have the ability to swim and I meant it." She hoped he would listen, "Did you think merhogs existed before you met me?"  
  
"No, but for all I know I could be dreaming." He held the bottle up so that it was level with his face, "I'll drink it, I have nothing left to lose."  
  
He pulled the cork off and took it in with one shot, and waited for something to happen. Minutes passed and he felt no different. Just as he was about to say something that would most likely prove her wrong, he started feeling sick to his stomach and dizzy. Thinking that she really did poison him, he lay down on the rock. His body heat seemed to rise and his legs felt like they were on fire. What was this cruel thing she had done to him?  
  
It seemed like hours of agony, though it had barely been ten minutes. And all of a sudden, everything seemed okay, but he felt himself being pulled off the rock into the water.  
  
"See? All done." her voice rang in his ears.  
  
He opened his eyes, thinking she was holding him up in the water, but she wasn't. Shadow really was swimming after all. He looked at her as she innocently smiled.  
  
But, no, something was different. His legs weren't moving individually. It felt odd. What was wrong? He pulled himself back onto the rock to see what was up, only to be horrified.  
  
He had no legs, or feet. In their place was a deep red scaly fish-like body, with fins on the end. Much like Kayli's. Shadow the hedgehog was now a merhog. His eyes were wide and for seconds he was speechless. Kayli was still smiling, thinking he was liking what he was seeing.  
  
"What..Have.You DONE!?" his voice was shaky as he yelled. Kayli's heart sank.  
  
"You tricked me! I can't believe this!" he said looking at his new lower body.  
  
"But." She tried to talk, but he just made more remarks on his fins.  
  
"I would have rather drank the poison.", when he seemed to be at a loss for words once again, she managed to say something.  
  
"I didn't trick you."  
  
"What?!"  
  
"I said, I didn't trick you." She repeated, "I said if you drank the potion, you would be able to swim, and you can."  
  
She was right, he could swim now. But he didn't think he would have to change for that. He was able to control his voice now because he was too weak to yell, and Kayli didn't lie nor go back on her word.  
  
"Sorry." She said softly.  
  
"No, you shouldn't apologize, you didn't lie to me.", his words made her half smile. "At least now I will be able to get back to land."  
  
"I can change you back when we get there." she said.  
  
Shadow was happy to hear this. He wanted his legs back, he could never give up running, but he would have to for now. "Good.", he muttered.  
  
"Get in the water, you'll dry out." she said lightly. Her remark made Shadow smile.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ To Be Continued.  
  
Who didn't expect that? See you next chapter! 


	5. Chapter 4: Swimming Lessons

Mmmmk, time for the next chapter!  
  
Finding A Way: CHAPTER 4  
  
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~  
  
Shadow was still getting over the fact that this was actually happening to him-him turning into a merhog-he would never imagine it. But now, he could swim, and he could go out and find if he had a purpose. There was nothing holding him back now, well, almost nothing. In a split second, he dived into the water and sped off as if he were running.  
  
"Hey wait! You can't..", but before Kayli could finish, he spun around at the water's horizon almost five times only a few yards away.  
  
Dizzy and treading in the water, he turned in Kayli's direction with his arms folded.  
  
"That was a really bad idea", he mumbled, then called over to her, "Hey, do you mind showing me how to do this?!"  
  
She rolled her eyes with a smile and caught up with him, "You aren't running anymore, so you can't move like your running.."  
  
"But shouldn't I be able to do this with some kind of instinct?"  
  
"With you, no."  
  
"Well, then I guess you will have to teach me"  
  
"Ha, I guess so", she actually had no idea how to be a teacher, but it was worth a try.  
  
"Go underwater and watch me." She decided that to be the first step. So Shadow did what she told. He watched her swim around him with grace a few times, but lost train of his thought when he suddenly noticed that he was breathing-under water. She told him to come back to the surface for his next step.  
  
"Alright, now, you have to remember not to move your body from side to side as you would be when you're running. You have to keep in one motion, and you don't have to use your arms.."  
  
Shadow nodded, he was paying enough attention to notice that Kayli seemed to know a lot about running, but he dismissed this and continued to listen to his teacher.  
  
"..Okay, since you understand now, why don't you give it a try?"  
  
"Um, okay, here goes." He dived under water, keeping his eyes closed so he could concentrate on what he was supposed to do. He moved his tail up and down, not caring where he was going. When he was sure he got the basics down, he resurfaced.  
  
"That was good, Shadow, you got it! I can teach you some tricks later......"  
  
He smirked, "Maybe", he wasn't interested in learning anything else, and it wasn't like he was going to need these new fins for more than a few days anyway.  
  
The sun was going down now; the day seemed to end short. He was tired, he had been frozen for so long, but he felt like he hadn't really slept in years.  
  
"So where do you live? I will need a place to stay."  
  
"Follow me", she said and led him underwater. He was going to sleep underwater? Seemed impossible, but after the things that have happened to him in the past few hours, he would believe anything.  
  
Before he knew it, he was in a small coral cave-like place. All over the walls lay bottles of who knows what, it had rooms and odd furniture made out of rocks and seaweed. It looked somewhat like a normal house, but much move primitive. It was still unlike anything he had ever seen.  
  
"You can sleep in here." she pointed to what looked like a couch.  
  
"Oh great" he said sarcastically, "I get to sleep on a rock."  
  
She sighed, "Its better then nothing..now, I am going to bed too, make yourself at home, and don't touch any of those potions." She pointed to all the little bottles on the walls. "Goodnight.."  
  
Shadow just nodded. He would've done some more exploring, but he had to try and get comfortable on his 'bed'.  
  
Tomorrow, he would start his was back to Station Square.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
To be continued..  
  
Hope you all liked this chapter (its not my favorite, but I think its OK), R&R please and see you next chapter! 


	6. Chapter 5: Getting to Know Me Part 1

So you liked it so far? Yay! OK, next chappie.  
  
Finding A Way: CHAPTER 5  
  
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~  
  
"G'Morning!" Shadow heard loudly in his ear which both startled and confused him. He opened his eyes to find Kayli hovering over him.  
  
"Argggg..." Shadow grumbled and rolled over.  
  
"Sleep well?" she questioned. He looked at her in amazement. He was sleeping on a rock for Gawd sakes.  
  
"No."  
  
He remembered what happened yesterday and it seemed so real and so fake now that it was a new day. Kayli just seemed to laugh at his remark.  
  
""Hungry?", she asked with a smile.  
  
"Yea...", he said groggily. With that she disappeared for a few seconds and came back holding two fish by their tails. Shadow carefully watched her as she proceeded with her next move. She carelessly sunk her teeth into the creature as if she had done it a million times over. A small trail of blood floated through the water. Shadow seemed to twitch and get woozy and lowered himself to his 'bed'.  
  
"On second though, I think I'll pass."  
  
"Oh, c'mon, it's the only thing to eat down here. I got used to it and so can you."  
  
"No. I can go a few days without eating if I have to.", he said matter- of-factly.  
  
"Suit yourself." she sighed and let the other fish swim happily away.  
  
"Okay, lets move, I want to get a head start to the city." he said swimming outside. Kayli winced, grabbed a few things to put in her bag and followed him.  
  
An hour passed. They weren't going as fast as Shadow wanted, but he didn't know the way and was forced to follow Kayli. They had also said very little to each other.  
  
She couldn't stand the silence; it looked like she would have to change this as she searched for something to say to him.  
  
"So...how old are you?" she would've kicked herself if she could, what a cheesy question. But he didn't seem to mind and shrugged.  
  
"I would say sixty-six"  
  
Kayli had lost her breath for a second. He was old enough to be her father? He sure didn't look like it. She felt crushed for minutes until Shadow spoke up again.  
  
"...But, I guess in reality I am sixteen." he finished.  
  
She felt better with that since she was only one year younger, but what was he talking about?  
  
"How is that possible?" she stammered, making herself look slightly childish.  
  
"It's a long story."  
  
"I think I can handle it."  
  
Shadow didn't want to talk about it still, but for some reason he went ahead. He started off with the small stuff, telling her about how he had been frozen for fifty years and about the ARK. Then, without knowing it, he spilled everything. His life aboard the ARK, Maria, the GUN, the Biolizard, his attempts at destroying Earth, his association with Sonic and the others. Everything.  
  
And she seemed to be hanging on his every word. Fascinated by his life. She could tell that he never really talked about any of it to anyone in his existence because he just seemed to have a need to talk.  
  
"I can't believe you've been through so much! I guess you have a 'live fast-die hard' motto, huh?" she said.  
  
"Actually, no. I did all those things without having a choice..." he said, still a little sad from remembering an unwanted past. He didn't even notice that they were barely making progress to their destination.  
  
"So what is your life like?" he asked to her surprise, having the feeling that he talked too much about himself.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
To Be Continued...  
  
Just to let you know, Chapter 6 will explain Kayli's life story and will give her more depth (didn't want to make this chapter significantly longer than the others :P) 


	7. Chapter 6: Getting to Know Me Part 2

Been busy lately, here is the next chapter *finally*  
  
Finding A Way: CHAPTER 6  
  
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Kayli thought for a minute, "Hmmmm, what about me...", she started, Shadow listened, "Well I guess I should come out and say that I wasn't always like this-y'know- a merhog.."  
  
Shadow gave her an interested and a confused look, "What? Explain..."  
  
She sighed and frowned, "Well I faintly remember being a hedgehog, a real hedgehog. The clearest memory I have is back when I was a little girl...I think I was sitting in my house playing with dolls, minding my own business and a woman picked me up and hugged me", she gulped, "she would always tell me 'I was the best little girl in the world and she would never let anything happen to me.' I guess she was my mom."  
  
"Do you remember anything else?" Shadow asked. He wanted to know what she meant by 'I used to be a hedgehog'.  
  
"Yea, actually...there is one I don't like to remember so well.", she took a second to debate whether or not she should tell it, then finally started, "One day, I was watching TV in that same house, and my mom, like always picked me up. But instead her grip was tight and she was running around looking for a place to hide me, suddenly there were lights flashing and men yelling outside. She finally put me in the cabinets under the kitchen sink and told me she loved me and that it would be ok."  
  
Kayli gritted her teeth and looked as if she would cry, she looked over to Shadow, though, and something made her finish.  
  
"It wasn't ok. I woke up with a bright light in my face and about five men with goggles on staring at me. I was frightened but I listened to their every word, they kept calling me 'Subject Number 16'. I was there for many months until -that day came. Apparently they had gotten what they were looking for and I was injected with some kind of weird black liquid. And the same thing that happened to you...happened to me." She gestured to Shadow's fins.  
  
"Then how are you out here now?", he asked, intrigued more by her own life than his own.  
  
"Ummm...they let me go." She said, "I think they wanted to study my habits now that they had mutated me. They burned a tracking device into my side, but I ripped it off in panic." She showed Shadow the scar on her left side. He winced.  
  
"Well, you have all those...potions, how come you couldn't just change yourself back?"  
  
"I tried. Those potions where just something I learned to make from being in the ocean for so long. Something that the world shouldn't get their hands on. Ever."  
  
"So?"  
  
"The chemical they put in me was black, the chemical I gave you was green. Unfortunately I could never find the antidote for that black stuff."  
  
Shadow gave a look of sympathy, "Oh..."  
  
"Its getting dark again." she said, "We should make camp." Kayli swam to a sandbar.  
  
This disappointed Shadow a little as he wanted to continue on with the journey. But soon he didn't care very much as he followed Kayli down.  
  
Morning came quickly. Shadow woke up in the same state of shock as the night before. Kayli was still sleeping. He looked at her for a long moment. For some reason, he felt happier knowing she was there. Then he fixed his gaze on something that was shimmering below. He swam to it and picked it up.  
  
It was a shiny silver necklace. The chain was thin and fragile, but it had a small Sapphire jewel hanging from it. Shadow had to admit, it was beautiful. But he had no use for it; he will give it to Kayli. He was strangely in a good mood; he decided to cheer her up too.  
  
This time Kayli woke up with him hovering over her. She raised an eyebrow. He tilted his head; he arms were behind his back as if hiding something. And best of all, he was smiling. She couldn't help but smile back.  
  
"Good Morning." He said cheerfully. She blushed, his voice was soothing when he was happy. But she couldn't figure out why he had a sudden change of heart.  
  
"What's the matter, get up on the right side of the bed this morning?", she teased as she leveled herself.  
  
"Um...yea, I guess.", he then remembered the necklace, "Hey look what I found!"  
  
He held it out in front of her face. Her eyes quickly lit up, "Wow!"  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ To Be Continued...  
  
Hope you liked this chapter and see ya next week! 


	8. Chapter 7: Kick its arse you two!

Hi again. Back with chapter 7! Thanx for the reviews so far *feels special*  
  
Finding A Way: CHAPTER 7  
  
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Kayli adored the necklace. It was old, and didn't look like it was worth much, but she liked it either way. Her and Shadow had gotten a late start on their trip today. Neither of them minded, though, it was worth the company.  
  
"Hey look at this one!" Kayli said, holding a seashell out to Shadow. He had been swimming forward all day, while she swam close by, finding little objects to touch.  
  
"Heh", Is the only thing he would really respond with, he never really took interest in the outdoors. Kayli just smiled and dove back off somewhere to look for something else.  
  
Shadow didn't mind her sudden burst of energy though, he wouldn't have it any other way. For the first time in who knows how long, he felt relaxed despite what was going on. Suddenly his stomach growled. He couldn't remember the last time he ate and he was already pretty skinny. He decided to look around for something worth eating.  
  
Kayli swam back up from the ocean floor, "Hey! I found anoth-" she stopped. He wasn't there. Puzzled, she swam around to look for him. Finally she found him, gnawing at a chunk of chewy seaweed.  
  
She giggled, "I don't eat that stuff, it tastes bad."  
  
"I don't care, I am really hungry."  
  
"You should've just eaten the fish."  
  
He made a face, "No way. I'm sorry, but I don't eat things alive."  
  
"Ha." Was all she said as he actually managed to swallow the seaweed, having to hold his nose to do so. He proceeded to swim back at the level he was and they continued.  
  
Bored with seashell hunting, Kayli got another idea.  
  
"Hey! Wanna race?!", she asked cheerfully.  
  
"Haha." He replied sarcastically, "You think you can beat me in a race?"  
  
"Maybe, lets find out!"  
  
"Your on. I will even give you a head start, ladies first!" he grinned.  
  
"Fine with me..." She said swimming off. Shadow waited until she could barely be seen and then started after her at top speed.  
  
Kayli kept swimming and turned her head enough to look back and see him rapidly catching up. 'Wow, he's fast!' she though.  
  
Suddenly, she rammed right into something huge. She gained her sense and backed up to see a monster shark bearing teeth at her.  
  
"Wahhhh!" she squealed and swam behind Shadow, putting her arms around his waist. He was slightly surprised, but he turned his attention back to the shark. Without warning it lunged, but barely missed. Shadow turned in the direction it was now in and was on guard.  
  
"I've got this." He said swimming off towards it as she watched. He did a homing attack right at its nose, thankful he could still do it. The shark shook it off and smacked Shadow into a coral reef near by. He opened his eyes to see the shark advancing on him. Its teeth were almost in his face when a lavender flash smacked the shark on the head. It was Kayli's tail.  
  
The shark then advanced on Kayli, until Shadow did another homing attack that sliced half its top fin. Luckily the beast gave up and turned to swim off in pain.  
  
Before Shadow could say anything, Kayli was hugging him.  
  
"You saved me."  
  
"You helped too ya know."  
  
"Well thank you anyway.", she let go of him. "Its getting dark again, time to make camp, I guess."  
  
Shadow sighed, "Another day gone."  
  
She smiled and looked up at him. She was really starting to like him, and thinking about him leaving wasn't so nice. Maybe he would change his mind by then.  
  
They swam down to some coral, and prepared for a big day tomorrow.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
To Be Continued...  
  
(Heh, short chapter, but I liked writing it and need to save enough for next chapter. See ya next week!) 


	9. Chapter 8: Something More? Forget it

Finally back. Wow, I wanted this chapter to turn out good. Hope you enjoy. (Oh and LOL @ Dragon Master Naya's last review.)  
  
Finding A Way: CHAPTER 8  
  
------------------------------ --------------------  
  
Morning came quickly as usual. Shadow awoke to find that Kayli wasn't around. With a sigh, he prepared to go look for her. But his attention turned to her bag that she had left there. What was in that bag anyway? Curiosity got the best of Shadow. He looked around to make sure he was alone and opened it.  
  
Inside where a couple of those bottles as he guessed.  
  
"Hmph. Must be my antidote." He remarked to himself and went to look for her.  
  
He finally saw her, her head was out of the water. He went up and playfully grabbed her tail and went up to the surface with her.  
  
"You scared me." She smirked.  
  
"You should've been." He did the same. "What are you doing?"  
  
"Just looking at the sunrise. Its pretty don't you think?"  
  
"Yeah..." His voice trailed off as he looked out in the horizon.  
  
Shadow hadn't seen to many sunrises. With being on the ARK and all. It never got dark or light, just stayed the same. Maybe Earth wasn't as bad as he judged it to be. He looked over to Kayli who had her gazed fixed on the sunrise still. It made her white quills shine purplish-pink and her eyes glow. She looked over at him about to say something.  
  
Suddenly he was feeling something he couldn't identify. It was like that feeling he used to get when he was around Maria, Except much, much stronger.  
  
"Um, Earth to Shadow?", she interrupted his thoughts.  
  
"Huh? Oh..."  
  
Slightly embarrassed that he got caught staring at her, he changed the subject and asked about the rest of the trip. Kayli barely listened to his words, she just liked to hear his voice. She knew she liked him, with him around she wasn't so alone anymore. But she heard the last part of the sentence.  
  
"...so I was wondering how much longer until we get there."  
  
"I-I'm not sure." She sighed, not wanting him to leave.  
  
It was apparent that they should have got moving, so they eventually did.  
  
"So, you don't have parents." She asked as she swam.  
  
"No, I have a test tube." He said simply.  
  
"Oh." The white merhog could tell he didn't want to talk about it.  
  
"So what's Sonic like? I heard about him before."  
  
"He's...nice." He said, not really having much to say about the blue hedgehog.  
  
"No, I mean were you friends with him or something?"  
  
Shadow thought for a minute. Was he friends with Sonic? He really didn't know.  
  
"Sure." He finally said, "But we were rivals at first. When I used to think I was evil."  
  
"Ah, you don't seem so bad." She teased.  
  
"At least I know someone thinks so."  
  
He thought for a minute about not leaving her. He would find everyone and leave her alone. But he knew he had to press on. They swam for a few hours. Talking like there was no tomorrow. It was the most Shadow had ever said in a long time. He had forgot where they were going, until Shadow saw something coming into view.  
  
It was the drop off. They were getting close to shore.  
  
"Look!" he said, "We're almost there." With that he sped off towards it.  
  
Kayli just sat still for a minute, a look of dismay on her face. It was almost time to go. She considered for a minute, dropping the bag in the deep sea below and saying she lost it. But she knew she just couldn't. She slowly went to catch up with him.  
  
"So drop-offs are like, what, a mile off shore?! We will be there in barely a half hour if we pick up the pace."  
  
"Yeah..."  
  
"Hey, are you ok?" he asked since she seems upset.  
  
"I'll be fine."  
  
"Alright. Lets go!" he said swimming forward. She followed unwillingly.  
  
It was the fasted 20 minutes of her life, The water got shallower and shallower until Shadow could easily touch the bottom and be out of water at the same time.  
  
"Ok, well, this is it." He said, "Antidote please?" He held out his hand expecting her to go through her bag, but to his surprise, she panicked. She panicked...and made a run for it.  
  
"Kayli, No!", he sped off after her.  
  
He could here her crying somewhere. What was her problem anyway? He found her in a coral reef.  
  
"Come out Kayli, I need that potion!"  
  
"No!" she sobbed, "You just want to leave me here so I'll be alone again!"  
  
He lowered his voice, "Please, give me the potion."  
  
The softness that was pleading in his voice forced her to reach into her bag and pull out the antidote for him. She looked at it for a minute, tears streaming down her cheeks. And she threw it out to him. She just wanted him to be happy.  
  
He easily caught the small bottle in his hands, looked at the coral she was in, and went back up to shore.  
  
"Well, here goes nothing." He said and drank it the same way he did with the first one. In no time he found himself back to normal-with legs.  
  
"Man its good to see you two again." he muttered. And walked on to the beach, slightly wobbling. The hot sand burned his feet, he had no shoes. When he was further away, he looked back, the water was still, she wasn't even coming back to say goodbye. Guilt crossed him for a second, then he moved on to the city.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
To Be Continued...  
  
*Whew. Chapter is done. See you next chapter ^_^* 


	10. Chapter 9: Shadow Finds His Way

O.o; Oh yea, next chapter!! ^.^  
  
Finding A Way: CHAPTER 9  
  
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~  
  
He was tired. Tired of walking. His feet burned on the asphalt, but he didn't care. 'Oh well' he thought, at least he was in the city now. He didn't know where Sonic lived, Shadow wanted to find him first. But fate wouldn't turn out that way. People were walking all around him; they glanced at him as they passed by, but didn't say a word.  
  
It was obvious they knew who he was, but they were afraid of him. Was it because he was supposed to be dead? He thought so. Shadow didn't like people staring at him, he never did, but he was half tempted to ask one of them if they knew where Sonic was, until he happened to glance in a hotel parking lot. He recognized that car from anywhere; he walked up to the lobby desk of the hotel.  
  
"May I speak to Rouge Bat?" he asked loud and clear of the hotel clerk.  
  
"I'm not supposed to let anyone go to our guests rooms", the clerk replied politely, but sternly.  
  
"But, I'm...a friend of hers."  
  
"Can I see some identification, then, please?"  
  
"I don't have any..."  
  
The clerk then peered over the desk at Shadow. The hedgehog had no shoes, torn gloves and matted damp fur. He truly looked to be somewhat insane.  
  
"I will call her room and tell her, please take a seat over there." He man pointed to a red hotel couch. Shadow shrugged and walked over.  
  
"Oh and, here!" the clerk shouted throwing the black hedgehog a towel to sit on, obviously worried about the good leather on the couch.  
  
"Gee thanks." Shadow mumbled sarcastically and sat down. And waited.  
  
The clerk searched Rouge's name in his computer, then Shadow saw him pick up the phone. He hoped she would pick up. He was relieved when the clerk started talking.  
  
"Yes, Miss Rouge...Hey! She wants to know who you are!" he shouted over to Shadow.  
  
"Shadow the Hedgehog!" He shouted even louder, getting unwanted stares from other guests in the lobby.  
  
The clerk turned back to the phone, "Says his name's Shadow, do you know him?" he asked.  
  
"...."  
  
"Um, Miss Rouge?"  
  
"...."  
  
"Miss Rouge?!!"  
  
An automatic door burst open behind Shadow, making a slamming noise, obviously not used to being forced open so fast. He turned around and looked at Rouge.  
  
She walked to him and just stared for a few seconds. Then without warning, she grabbed him by the arm and pulled him towards where she came from. The clerk blinked a few times, and then went back to reading a magazine.  
  
*********  
  
"So, how did you...not die?" The bat asked Shadow as she was getting them both something to drink.  
  
"I cant die, remember?"  
  
"But still, wouldn't you have drowned?"  
  
"If it wasn't for...her."  
  
"Who?" she questioned as she sat down near Shadow.  
  
"A girl, a mermaid girl. Her name was Kayli...is Kayli"  
  
"Are you feeling okay?"  
  
"I know what I saw, Rouge." He said as he sipped the drink, not bothing to ask what it was.  
  
She sighed, "Alright, well we'll talk about that later."  
  
Shadow looked at the matted fur on his arms, and the soiled gloves.  
  
"Can I use your shower?"  
  
***********  
  
"...No! He is here I swear of it. Where is he? In the shower."  
  
"Your not kidding?" the voice said from the phone.  
  
"I wouldn't joke about this, you know that."  
  
"Your right I guess, can you come over?", the voice asked.  
  
"Yes, I'm sure he wont mind, be over later." She hung up just as Shadow came out of the bathroom.  
  
"Who was that?" he asked.  
  
"Sonic. He wants us to come over."  
  
Shadow half smiled and nodded. He rubbed his quills with the towel. They grabbed a few things, got in Rouge's car, and left.  
  
*******  
  
When they got there, it seemed that Sonic invited everyone else over as well. They walked up, and Rouge rang the doorbell.  
  
Sonic opened the door and took a look at Shadow, and then turned to Rouge, "You really weren't kidding."  
  
They walked inside to see Tails working on something, and Knuckles sitting on the couch, watching TV and eating leftover pizza.  
  
"Honestly, Knuckles, don't you ever get sick of eating?!", Rouge commented, "Your going to get huge one of these days!"  
  
Knuckles smiled slightly, "You're not my mother, Rouge."  
  
She gave him a dirty look, and walked over to the couch. Sonic laughed slightly.  
  
"They really do like each other, their just too stubborn to admit it." He said to Shadow as Rouge sat on the couch next to Knuckles and grabbed the channel changer, starting another little argument.  
  
Shadow laughed too.  
  
"I thought I saw Amy's car outside, isn't she here?" Shadow asked looking around.  
  
"Yeah, she should be-", Sonic's eyes got wide as he heard something in his upstairs room fall on the floor.  
  
"Damnit! Amy, get out of my room!", he said and ran up the stairs.  
  
Shadow turned to the fox. He never socialized with him, but he guessed he would now.  
  
"Hey kid, what are ya makin'?"  
  
"Well, Miss Rouge told Sonic that you didn't have any shoes, so I whipped up a pair for you.", Tails said, holding up the shoes to him. They resembled his old air shoes, but were slightly different.  
  
"Thanks."  
  
Sonic came downstairs with Amy in front of him.  
  
"But Sonic! I wanted pictures of me all over your room!" She said, holding quite a few pictures of herself. Shadow snickered, but then frowned, Amy somewhat reminded him of Kayli, and he didn't want to think about her.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ To Be Continued...  
  
Wow. I expected that chapter to turn out shorter. Anyway, it's almost over! 


	11. Chapter 10: I Guess You Never Know

Finally back O.o I've been really busy with friends, family, worry about high school etc. and just didn't have the time. Now I do ^^ and this is the last chapter. This is it. So sit back, relax and enjoy.  
  
Finding A Way: CHAPTER 10  
  
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~  
  
A couple weeks had passed since Shadow encountered that incident. He would think about Kayli constantly, but didn't want to. Guilt. Pain. Emptiness.  
  
Sonic had let Shadow stay in the guest room. Rouge would've let him, but she didn't have enough room in her apartment. The two hedgehogs made a truce and were becoming friends slowly.  
  
Yep, it was pretty good. Until Thursday morning.  
  
Shadow sat on the couch in front of the TV, large bowl of cereal on the coffee table. He never had TV on ARK, so it was a change of pace.  
  
"Turn on the news so I can see if it's good running weather today." Sonic grumbled as he walked by, still half asleep. Normally Shadow would argue, but there was nothing else on anyway. He changed the channel to the news to find something bad.  
  
"...and I'm DeniseTurner with your top news. Behind me is a scene like no other. It seems early this morning; a fisherman caught an odd creature in one of his nets. If I heard right, this creature is half fish...half anthro-hedgehog. A missing link perhaps?"  
  
Shadow's eyes widened.  
  
*scene cuts to the fisherman*  
  
"I dunno, it just basically swam into my net. I've never seen anything like it!"  
  
*scene cuts to a GUN officer*  
  
Shadow's eyes widen bigger.  
  
"This creature is one of a kind and will be safely given a nice home at our lab-sanctuary."  
  
Shadow scowled, "Sanctuary my ass." He dropped is spoon, causing milk to get all over the table, and raced out the door.  
  
"Hey! Where ya goin?!" Sonic yelled without an answer from him.  
  
Shadow ran until he realized he didn't know exactly where G.U.N. labs were. His memory finally kicked in and he was quickly on the island Base. It was gonna be tough getting in by himself, but he would manage.  
  
He creeped around the base for about an hour trying not to get caught, until he was finally able to sneak in an air vent. Crawling around for a little while longer after that, he heard voices below him.  
  
He couldn't see much through the tiny holes, but he heard "Merhog" a few times. He knew he was hot on the target. All he would have to do is wait for them to leave the room, go in and grab Kayli, and get out of there.  
  
His plan flawed.  
  
He shifted weight the wrong way and the rusty vent pipe busted out from underneath him.  
  
"Just peachy." He grumbled as he went to get up.  
  
"Well what have we got here?" one scientists said to the other.  
  
"Shadow?! Shadow help me!" Kayli yelled from the other side. He looked to his right to see Kayli in a tank of water.  
  
One scientist got a confused look on his face, then it hit him and he grabbed a phone out of his coat. "We need backup fast! Project Shadow is loose and unrestrained!"  
  
Shadow turned to them, "What do you want with her?!"  
  
"It's none of your business. Why should I tell a weapon our intentions? She is and has always been our experiment."  
  
In less than a second the room was filled with gunfire. Shadow easily dodged the bullets, but it caused several chemicals to mix and a turn into gasses. As if things weren't already harder, but a red light started flashing as the base realized it was under threat.  
  
The officers used their bullets in vain, as they were out. Shadow gave them a nasty 'I can kill you.' Look and they ran away for more ammo and backup.  
  
"Project Shadow, surrender so you can be put back to rest."  
  
"Would you stop calling me that, like I'm not a living thing?!"  
  
"Well, you are, but you shouldn't be programmed with these feelings. Must be a flaw in your design. No matter, we can just get rid of you and make another."  
  
"Maria would never call me that...", Shadow mumbled to himself, but loud enough for them to hear.  
  
"Maria? Robotnik?", the scientist said, "ah yes, now I remember, that girl my father killed on the ARK all those years ago. Ha, I guess you were also transmitted some of those memories as well."  
  
Shadow started to get shaky.  
  
"Shadow, don't listen to him, he's only trying to weaken you." Kayli said from behind.  
  
He tried to take her advice, but continued, "W-What are you talking about. Of course I remember Maria, she was my best friend."  
  
The scientist was slowly breaking him, "WELL, I guess you could've been her friend if you were the real Shadow."  
  
"No, I am Shadow."  
  
"No. The real Shadow died in his space trip to Earth. We found his remains enough to make a clone. You're only but a mere clone, one with a lot of flaws it seems."  
  
"Lies. Lies. You're LYING!"  
  
"Too bad I'm not." The man walked toward a door and opened it, "Here's your proof." He turned on a light to reveal something that shouldn't have been shown.  
  
It was a tank-with a dead hedgehog pickled in a copper colored liquid. Everything was screaming inside Shadow to not come any closer, but he did.  
  
Ears folded back, he pressed his face against the glass in pure shock. It was indeed Shadow, the Ultimate Life, at his worst.  
  
He had seen enough, Shadow ranted out of the room and started kicking things over.  
  
"No, no no nonononononono NOOOOOOO!" he yelled accidentally kicking Kayli's tank, which shattered with the blow.  
  
"wahhh!", she emitted a squeal as a large shard of glass went through her abdomen.  
  
The scientist scowled, "Hey, we need that animal."  
  
Shadow ignored the comment, tears dripping down his cheeks and his ears still down. He walked over to hurt Kayli and kneeled down.  
  
"What have I done?", he picked her up.  
  
"It isn't your fault. T-They taunted you."  
  
Her voice grew weaker, the more blood spilled out.  
  
"It IS my fault", he pulled the glass out, which only seemed to make the bleeding worse, "Don't go..."  
  
He kissed her, she went limp. Another girl he cared about, gone before his eyes. Sure she was still breathing, but he couldn't do anything about it.  
  
He got up, picked up a stray gun on the floor, gave it to the scientist and said  
  
"Kill me."  
  
What seemed like perfect timing. Sonic tumbled through a window.  
  
"I'm here to back you up Shadow!"  
  
"Don't bother, blue hedgehog. I don't want to live."  
  
"The scientist pulled the trigger, but it was empty as expected.  
  
"What are you talking about Shadow?"  
  
He sighed, "I have nothing left."  
  
"Let's talk about this later, come on, think of everyone who cares about you!"  
  
"Fine, for whoever cares about me."  
  
The scientists ran, being unarmed.  
  
"I'll get em'. Come back cowards!" Sonic speeded down the hallway after.  
  
Shadow looked through the cabinets to find something that could be Kayli's last hope. Something to help her breathe, donor blood, something. But something caught his eye.  
  
A small bottle. Label faintly read "antidote" and a few warnings.  
  
"I wonder.", Shadow said. Kayli had nothing to lose anyway.  
  
He walked over to her body, not bothering to check for a pulse, and poured the liquid little by little down her throat. She coughed and sputtered, at least she wasn't dead.  
  
And Shadow watched amazingly as her wound sealed itself up only leaving a scar. Not only that, but she groaned slightly as her tail--turned to legs.  
  
She awoke as if she was sleeping, looked up at Shadow.  
  
"What happened?"  
  
She stuck a leg in the air.  
  
"You did it! Thank you so much!" she sobbed with joy and hugged him. He blushed furiously realizing he had a half naked girl on his lap.  
  
"Uh, Kayli, you--uh..."  
  
She stopped hugging and looked down, "Oh crap." She made him turn around as she got some towels to wrap around herself out of a cabinet.  
  
"Ahem, well, we better go get Sonic..." He said.  
  
------------------------------------------- ----------------  
  
"Come on, kids! Let's get back before we have to walk home in the dark!" Sonic yelled from up ahead of Shadow and Kayli.  
  
Shadow looked away for a minute, looking depressed.  
  
She noticed, "What's wrong?"  
  
"I'm not Shadow; I'm not the real thing..."  
  
"You're a perfect Shadow to me." She said, brightening him up, "oh, and by the way, you're a good kisser." She said slyly and speeded up her pace. Shadow stopped. Then he gave her the same sly look and ran up ahead.  
  
He had a place after all.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ The End.  
  
*wipes forehead* whew. Longer then all other chapters. Ok, so, that's it. For the most part, I had fun writing it. So, like it, hate it? Anything I might consider editing if I revise the story later on? 


End file.
